STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — An off-duty Great Barrington police officer died early Friday morning after his pickup truck hit a tree on Prospect Hill Road in Stockbridge.

Stockbridge Police Chief Darrell Fennelly said 25-year-old Ryan A. Storti of Muddy Brook Circle was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which was reported shortly after 2 a.m. According to a statement from the Great Barrington Police Department, Storti was alone and on his way home when he lost control of his truck and struck a tree on the side of the road.

The investigation is being conducted by members of the Stockbridge Police Department with assistance from the Massachusetts State Police Collision Analysis and

Selectman John Duval attended the meeting in Pittsfield to urge MassDOT officials to finish the 6/10 of a mile needed. PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There is a newly renovated train station in Adams but no train. In 2014, taxpayers in Adams reluctantly put up funds to purchase and renovate a former Hoosac Street car wash into the Adams Station, an end point to the Berkshire Scenic Railway's Hoosac Valley Service. The idea to run Berkshire Scenic Railway trains between Adams and North Adams was first announced in 2013 and plans were laid to fix up the Pan Am lines from Burke Construction to North Adams. An additional 6/10th of a mile of track from there to Hoosac

More misses than hits in director Peter Atencio's "Keanu," a rambunctious action-comedy starring Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, suggest that the effort might best be enjoyed by fans of the duo's Comedy Central sketch series, "Key & Peele." Oddly, though, while unaware of the pair's cable TV fame and thus essentially a representative of the Great Unwashed, this admittedly easy chortler laughed much more than the supposed target audience with whom I viewed the movie.

While it behooves to academically note that the essence of comedy hasn't changed since Oog tripped Grouk as he exited his cave, the art of making folks chuckle, titter and hopefully

Chez Nous Bistro, 150 Main St. in Lee, 413 243-6397, has reopened and they are still having fun for the next few weeks with their Thursday night Manger! Boire!/Eat! Drink! cooking demo and wine pairing tasting dinners at 6:30.

They start them about November until end-of-year holidays, pick them up again when the new year begins through the middle of February when they take their much needed vacation, then add another month and half of demos after they return in April.

If you remember from previous Tidbit columns, the two chef-owners, Franck Tessier and his wife Rachel Portnoy who is the pastry chef, present a small themed cooking lesson, share the evening's recipes, serve a full meal

The announcement was made before the Veterans of Foreign Wars held its meeting. PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Christine Canning describes herself as a "pit bull with lipstick" who will go to Boston and fight for Berkshire County. The Lanesborough resident and educational consultant announced her candidacy for state Senate at the American Legion in Pittsfield Wednesday evening. Canning is running as a Republican and will take on the winner of the Democratic primary, which features Adam Hinds, Andrea Harrington and Rinaldo Del Gallo. The Berkshire's seat is open because Sen. Benjamin Downing has opted not to run for

More than two dozen supporters stopped by to check out the new office space. PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Senate Candidate Adam Hinds opened a downtown office on Tuesday. Hinds is running against Andrea Harrington for the Democratic nomination for the Berkshire state Senate seat being left vacant by Benjamin Downing, who opted not to run for re-election. Rindaldo Del Gallo has said he plans to run but has not yet jumped into the race. The Northern Berkshire Community Coalition Executive Director Hinds held an open house at his new office on South Street — in the plaza at the Crowne Plaza — which had previously been used as the headquarters for the

One day several years ago, a national news broadcast reporter covered a scientific study that revealed the beneficial components of chocolate. "It's good for your heart," she proclaimed. "Eat more chocolate."

The 90-second news broadcast oversimplified the findings, and so did every other news source reporting the story in the wildfire of coverage that ensued. The "good news" of dark chocolate is still making headlines now, years later. Meanwhile millions are over-consuming chocolate and other foods that — while they may have some beneficial properties — have a lot of calories. Those calories are actually doing more harm than good.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- “Baseball in the Berkshires: A County’s Common Bond” will continue its 2016 season later this month at the Country Club of Pittsfield.

The historic exhibition that traces the game from its earliest beginnings through the career of contemporary local collegians was created last year and had its initial residence at Herman Melville’s Arrowhead.

It returned to the Holmes Road site this spring for a brief stay with plans to take it on the road to various sites around the county.

The first stop will be at the CC of Pittsfield from May 16 to 20.

No admission will be charged at the exhibit, which will be displayed Monday, May 16, from noon to 4 p.m.

Close to the goal: The Stockbridge Bowl Association expects to complete its $2.8 million Save Stockbridge Bowl capital campaign in 2016, as the organization celebrates the 70th anniversary of its founding in 1946.

The SBA has raised more than $2.4 million of the estimated $2.8 million cost to pay for Phase 2 of the Town of Stockbridge Lake Management Plan. The work will include dredging to remove silt that has built up over many decades, and to permit a significant winter drawdown to kill the roots of invasive non-native plants clogging many areas of the lake.

"If the Town of Stockbridge cannot dredge decades of accumulated sediment and enable a winter drawdown to kill the invasive

'Telly' It Like It Is: Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, with its agency Jennings, have received a 2015 Telly Award for its Partnership is Powerful Medicine campaign video featuring cancer patient John Kasper.

In the video, John, an auto detailer in Bennington, shares his emotional story about battling cancer with SVMC’s team. The video was part of a series of patient videos, all of which can be viewed online.

“We are pleased to win this award and grateful to the team of doctors and nurses at the Cancer Center for the inspirational work they do every day,” said Ray Smith,

She scored two goals on Saturday as Westfield State defeated Framingham, 17-4, in the Owls’ regular season finale. For the year, she has eight goals and six assists despite missing the team’s preseason training due to the extended basketball season.

Westfield State is the top seed in the MASCAC tournament and on Thursday will host the winner of Tuesday’s quarter-final between Worcester State and

For traders, the old adage to "Sell in May" is now upon us. Over the past 40-plus years this recommendation has worked over 70 percent of the time. Should you go with the statistics or ignore them?

As regular readers know, the S&P 500 Index has already reached my target of 2,100. We did so over two weeks ago and until yesterday the bulls have been trying to break over that line and get back to the historical highs around 2,134.

The perfect excuse to do so should have occurred on Wednesday when the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee announced their latest decision to keep rates where they are.